By Sojourner Ahébée
The word “photography” comes from the Greek roots photos, meaning light, and graphé, meaning drawing or writing. In other words, photography is writing with light. And that is just what Seydou Keïta did with his camera. He wrote Mali into light, love, and liberation.
Keïta had a profound love and respect for the Black woman, and his ability to give Black women in his photographs their own sense of dignity and beauty continues to amaze. So naturally, some of the most touching images from the exhibition were images of Black women: women on motorcycles; women with their children; women with their husbands, boyfriends, and lovers; women alongside other women looking out for one another; women standing; women with their bodies reclined across the ground; women with gold hanging from their necks; women working their sewing machines; women being proud to be women.
Seydou Keïta
Untitled, 1959-60
120 x 180 cm
Private collection, Paris
Seydou Keïta
Untitled, 1949
50 x 60 cm
Collection Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris
In a general sense, the post-independent period in many African nations across the continent was marked by many promises. But women, many African women in particular, were often excluded from such promises, as they continued to be oppressed by traditional forces and customs that had existed before the colonial period. Some of these things included gender roles, female genital mutilation, expectation to marry, etc.
As independence from French colonial powers granted African men a new sense of freedom and opportunity, African women could not subscribe so easily into these new notions of liberation. They were still fighting for their bodies and their agency, things that were recognized neither by both the colonial regime, nor by much of the African male population. But Keïta’s commitment to rendering the African woman visible, powerful, and as existing for herself in lieu of the eyes and appetites of others is truly a testament to his desire to include the African woman in this new, liberated Africa.
Keïta is often remembered for his images of “the reclining woman”. Throughout the exhibition there were endless photographs of women spread out across the ground in a reclining manner, as they relaxed, held their children, or leaned against a lover. The African woman, and by extension the Black woman, is often depicted as an endurer of pain and trauma. By constantly providing us with images of African women in moments of leisure and tranquility, Keïta stresses the necessity for a space in which the African woman can know peace and pleasure.
Seydou Keïta
Untitled (Couple allongé), 1952-55
120 x 180 cm
Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris
Seydou Keïta
Untitled, 1959 (Left) & Untitled, 1958 (Right)
120 x 180 cm (Left) & 127 x 180 (Right)
Seydou Keïta
Untitled, 1949
120 x 180 cm
Collection agnès b., Paris
Keïta also makes use of his portraits as tools for African women to imagine their strength and agency in a modern and urbanized African society. The machine inevitably becomes intricately connected to the Malian woman’s everyday life. Whether she is headed to a party on her motorcycle, making a dress on her sewing machine, or listening to the latest hit on the radio, the machine becomes a dominant mode of expression of power and elation throughout the photographs.
Seydou Keïta
Untitled, 1953
77 x 60 cm
Finally, Keïta affirms and validates spaces for women to enjoy the company of one another. Here, their happiness, beauty, and value are not determined by the presence of men. Rather, a purely female, African joy is centered, allowing African women to find worth in their love for one another.
Seydou Keïta
Untitled, 1956-57
127 x 180 cm
Seydou Keïta
Untitled, 1959-1960
50 x 60 cm
Collection Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris
Seydou Keïta
Untitled, 1956-57
127 x 180 cm
Paris’s Grand Palais, one of the city’s most beloved national galleries, was home to the Seydou Keïta photography exhibition from March 31st to July 11th, 2016.
Sojourner Ahébée is a 2016 BOSP Continuation International Fellow for the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University. She is currently serving as the Paris intern for the Wells International Foundation.
Read more of Sojourner's work at Sojourner Ahébée.
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The word “photography” comes from the Greek roots photos, meaning light, and graphé, meaning drawing or writing. In other words, photography is writing with light. And that is just what Seydou Keïta did with his camera. He wrote Mali into light, love, and liberation.
Keïta had a profound love and respect for the Black woman, and his ability to give Black women in his photographs their own sense of dignity and beauty continues to amaze. So naturally, some of the most touching images from the exhibition were images of Black women: women on motorcycles; women with their children; women with their husbands, boyfriends, and lovers; women alongside other women looking out for one another; women standing; women with their bodies reclined across the ground; women with gold hanging from their necks; women working their sewing machines; women being proud to be women.
Untitled, 1959-60
120 x 180 cm
Private collection, Paris
Untitled, 1949
50 x 60 cm
Collection Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris
In a general sense, the post-independent period in many African nations across the continent was marked by many promises. But women, many African women in particular, were often excluded from such promises, as they continued to be oppressed by traditional forces and customs that had existed before the colonial period. Some of these things included gender roles, female genital mutilation, expectation to marry, etc.
As independence from French colonial powers granted African men a new sense of freedom and opportunity, African women could not subscribe so easily into these new notions of liberation. They were still fighting for their bodies and their agency, things that were recognized neither by both the colonial regime, nor by much of the African male population. But Keïta’s commitment to rendering the African woman visible, powerful, and as existing for herself in lieu of the eyes and appetites of others is truly a testament to his desire to include the African woman in this new, liberated Africa.
Keïta is often remembered for his images of “the reclining woman”. Throughout the exhibition there were endless photographs of women spread out across the ground in a reclining manner, as they relaxed, held their children, or leaned against a lover. The African woman, and by extension the Black woman, is often depicted as an endurer of pain and trauma. By constantly providing us with images of African women in moments of leisure and tranquility, Keïta stresses the necessity for a space in which the African woman can know peace and pleasure.
Untitled (Couple allongé), 1952-55
120 x 180 cm
Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris
Untitled, 1959 (Left) & Untitled, 1958 (Right)
120 x 180 cm (Left) & 127 x 180 (Right)
Untitled, 1949
120 x 180 cm
Collection agnès b., Paris
Keïta also makes use of his portraits as tools for African women to imagine their strength and agency in a modern and urbanized African society. The machine inevitably becomes intricately connected to the Malian woman’s everyday life. Whether she is headed to a party on her motorcycle, making a dress on her sewing machine, or listening to the latest hit on the radio, the machine becomes a dominant mode of expression of power and elation throughout the photographs.
Untitled, 1953
77 x 60 cm
Finally, Keïta affirms and validates spaces for women to enjoy the company of one another. Here, their happiness, beauty, and value are not determined by the presence of men. Rather, a purely female, African joy is centered, allowing African women to find worth in their love for one another.
Untitled, 1956-57
127 x 180 cm
Untitled, 1959-1960
50 x 60 cm
Collection Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris
Untitled, 1956-57
127 x 180 cm
Paris’s Grand Palais, one of the city’s most beloved national galleries, was home to the Seydou Keïta photography exhibition from March 31st to July 11th, 2016.
Sojourner Ahébée is a 2016 BOSP Continuation International Fellow for the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University. She is currently serving as the Paris intern for the Wells International Foundation.
Read more of Sojourner's work at Sojourner Ahébée.
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